News: XIJ Australian shares end lower; major sectors in red ahead of US CPI data

	  ASX 200 benchmark down 0.7% 

	  Miners down 1.1% 

	  U.S. CPI due later in the day 

(Updates to close)

Australian shares ended lower on Wednesday tracking overnight losses on Wall Street, with most major sectors in red, as investors remained cautious ahead of the crucial U.S. inflation data to gauge the outlook for the interest rate cycle.

The S&P/ASX 200 index (xjo) closed 0.7% lower at 7,153.9 points. The benchmark gained 0.2% on Tuesday.

Globally, investors await U.S. August consumer price index (CPI) data due later in the day and the producer prices reading scheduled for Thursday for clarity on the outlook for interest rates ahead of the Federal Reserve's meeting on Sept. 20.

"We are waiting for some confirmation of things and the big confirmation would be that we have seen the last of the rate rises and that inflation seems to be contained or coming down further," said Brad Smoling, managing director at Smoling Stockbroking.

Locally, Australia's household spending rebounded in August, data from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia showed on Wednesday, a sign of consumer resilience that bodes well for the economy.

Local investors also await domestic unemployment data for August, due on Thursday, for further cues on rate action by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Smoling added that he remains "very bullish for the balance of the year (on) the conviction that we're not going to see any more rate rises by the RBA or the Fed."

Miners .AXMM led losses on the benchmark, closing 1.1% lower, with heavyweights BHP Group (BHP) and Rio Tinto (RIO) falling 0.9% and 0.6% respectively.

Gold stocks .AXGD dropped 0.5%, while banking stocks .AXFJ and technology sub-index .AXIJ lost 0.4% and 1.6% each.

Energy stocks .AXEJ bucked the trend, rising 0.1% as oil prices firmed their ground near a 10-month peak on supply tightness.

New Zealand's benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index (nz50) closed 0.5% higher to end the day at 11,357.12 points.